You Want Me to Look Where? • You Can't Just Show Up • Choosing the Right Tradeshows • Tradeshow Safety and Security • Training Workshop: October 21st

Trade Show Safety and Security
From airports to the hotel, to the show floor itself, exhibitors face threats to safety and security at every step of the trade show experience. Because much of what we do, and exactly how and when we do it, is not within our personal control, planning safety and security for ourselves, our staff, and our exhibit property isn’t something we can leave to chance.

Here are tips for traveling, staying safe on the show floor, and preventing theft in your booth.

Personal travel safety
What would you do if your wallet, containing all your cash, traveler’s checks, credit cards, and ID, was stolen going through the security checkpoint at the airport? It happens! Here’s an idea: split your cash and credit cards between two pieces of carry-on luggage whenever you travel. Keep a photocopy of everything in your wallet at home, just in case you have to report loss or theft of credit cards and/or ID.

When checking into your hotel, be sure the desk clerk doesn’t announce your room number in front of other guests. If this happens, request a room reassignment.

Convention center safety
During setup and teardown, always wear substantial closed-toe shoes to protect your feet from dangerous obstacles in your booth and trash in the aisles. The worst hazards in the aisles are the metal bands used to secure cartons to pallets. When stepped on, these springy bands can become dangerous projectiles.

When setting up, think safe. Alert your labor crew to the equipment you’ll need for a safe setup, such as ladders. Many exhibitors get injured after standing on chairs that have broken under their weight–or losing their balance and falling to the floor. If you consistently need something to stand on to give you an extra foot of height during setup, consider buying a multi-purpose tool box that doubles as a step stool. Note: Nimlok has designed its portable exhibit shipping cases so the cover can be used as a step stool.

If your exhibit is packed into large wooden crates with removable doors, don’t lean the doors against the crate. All it takes is one bump or nudge from a forklift, and these heavy doors—often with bolts, screws and nails protruding from them—can fall on someone.

Regardless of how safe we try to be in our exhibits, small injuries always seem to occur, whether it’s a splinter from a wooden crate, a small cut from opening boxes with a sharp blade, or paper cuts from loading literature into your racks. A small first-aid kit is a must for every exhibitor. You can buy ready-made kits at drug or discount stores or build your own.

Theft on the show floor
When it comes to show-floor security, there is truly no “secure” show floor. Show management makes it very clear in both the space contract and rules and regulations that it will provide only perimeter security—in other words, those security guards at the door who check badges. Everything else is up to the exhibitor.

With the plethora of expensive AV equipment, computers and products we use in the exhibits—along with the chaos of show setup—trade shows are an attractive target for thieves. And, the labor hired to work on the show floor is not always screened for criminal records.

In addition, exhibits are not usually constructed to protect show floor property. Truly secure exhibits are rare. In fact, there are about two dozen common exhibit keys used industry-wide. Locked cabinets or storage areas in portable and modular exhibits aren’t a deterrent to theft, as the tops can be easily lifted off the counters to expose the contents below. Determined thieves will usually get what they want to steal.

As “ugly” as fanny packs are in the fashion world, they’re still a great option for exhibit managers who want to keep track of personal valuables, including cash, credit cards, digital cameras, cell phones—things that have a tendency to disappear if not kept under lock and key and out of sight during setup and teardown.

Think safe. Think secure. Think uneventful. With a little planning and a lot of luck, you can have all three.

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